A significant portion of the design effort for transceivers operating above 1 GHz is in the design of frequency filtering circuits, subcircuits, and filters. Low temperature co-fired cermics (LTCCs) have been used to implement these circuits due to desirable dielectric characteristics of LTCC, and vertical (between layer) capacitors have typically been used to achieve needed capacitances. However, LTCC is more expensive than organic multilayer printed circuit boards.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.